Guimaras Island: Top Places To Visit
Guimaras is the Home to the World’s Sweetest Mangoes
Staying true to what I resolved to do in the beginning of the year, I again embarked on a travel adventure that I’d surely remember forever. Life, after all, is all about making wonderful memories with loved ones and experiencing the beauty of different places.
We went to Guimaras, an island province located in Western Visayas. Known as the smallest province in the Philippines, it’s situated in the Panay Gulf between the islands of Panay and Negros. The whole island is part of the Metro Iloilo-Guimaras, one of the twelve metropolitan areas of the Philippines. It is subdivided into 5 municipalities, namely: Buenavista, Jordan, Nueva Valencia, San Lorenzo and Sibunag. Formerly known as Himal-us, Guimaras was a sub-province of Iloilo until it was made an independent province on May 22, 1992. It’s also interesting to note that it’s the home to the world’s sweetest mangoes.
Manggahan Festival in Guimaras
Guimaras celebrated its 25th Manggahan Festival last May 11 to 22 at the Capitol grounds in San Miguel, Jordan. The biggest attraction was the Mango Eat-All-You-Can wherein for 30 minutes you can consume all the mangoes you can for only Php 120. One starts off with a tray or nigo of three pieces of mangoes. Add more as you wish but you cannot take out any fruit. There was one who was able to finish 20 mangoes while another one finished 18 mangoes. For the duration of the whole festival, Guimaras prepared 64,000 mangoes (16 tons of mangoes). Isn’t that amazing?!
Top Places To Visit in Guimaras
We went to a lot of beautiful and interesting places in Guimaras. Here’s a little bit of info about them:
McNester Food Products (Brgy. San Isidro, Buenavista, Guimaras)
McNester Food Products is owned by Rebecca C. Tubongbanua, a Barangay Nutritional scholar and a Magsasaka Siyentista. This local establishment offers a variety of best quality products with high export potentials including mango ketchup, mango sauce, mango butterscotch, mango jams, mango concentrates, mango banana chips, mango piaya, dried mangoes, mango serafina, mango atsara, Indian mango pickles, etc. McNester was derived from the names of the owner’s two sons, Macmac and Ralph Nester.
Roca Encantada (Brgy. San Miguel, Buenavista, Guimaras)
Roca Encantada means “Enchanted Rock”. This famous landmark is the summer house of the Lopez Clan. It was built in 1910 in honor of Doña Presentacion Hofilena Lopez. The grand balconies of Roca Encantada offers a picturesque view of the beach front and Iloilo Strait with “Las Islas De Los Siete Pecados” not far from its coast. Despite its modern exterior, the Lopez mansion is a “heritage house” as declared by the National Heritage Institute on August 14, 2002. There’s an entrance fee of Php 50 per person. Visitors are only allowed at the mansion’s veranda and grounds. Going inside the house to take photos and see its interiors is strictly prohibited.
St. Isidore The Worker Parish (Brgy. Navalas, Buenavista, Guimaras)
The oldest existing Roman Catholic church in Guimaras that has survived the ravages of time. This Spanish-era edifice was built from 1880 to 1885. Coral stones were used to construct the church and its separate belfry. A bigger bell than the present one, said to be more than 4ft tall, formerly was hung at the belfry but was carted away and dumped into the sea near Las Islas De Los Siete Pecados by Muslim raiders. Only the facade remains, the rest of the church has been renovated.
Wind Farm (San Lorenzo, Guimaras)
The Wind Farm is consists of 27 wind turbines spread over 14 km across 4 barangays in Guimaras. These turbines are as tall as 22-storey buildings. Each wind turbine generates 2 megawatts of power for a total of 54 megawatts. Aside from generating power, it’s also a significant environmental-friendly project. It contributes to the global effort of reducing greenhouse emission in the atmosphere. The wind farm is set in rolling terrain and is becoming a favorite place for pre-nuptial photoshoots.
Our Lady of the Philippines Trappist Church and Monastery (San Miguel, Jordan, Guimaras)
The monastery, established in 1972, is home to the Contemplative Trappist Catholic Christian Monks of the Philippines. It’s the only Trappist monastery in the country. It’s a popular destination to tourists because of it’s gift shop that sells the best among Guimaras’ products like fresh mangoes, mango-flavored otap, piaya, jams, barquillos, etc. They also sell religious carvings, wooden crosses, books, wind chimes, coin purses, and more. When buying their products, you’re also helping them as this is how they earn. The monastery is also a popular retreat house, it offers room accommodations at a super affordable price.
Andana Resort (Brgy. Poblacion, Nueva Valencia, Guimaras)
Located in the southwest of Guimaras, this luxury resort has 70 rooms that come with an amazing view of the beach and the pool. The resort has white sand beaches, tranquil waters, and captivating scenery. Andana Resort’s facilities include classy suites and beach pods as accommodations, elongated swimming pool, full service restaurant, beach bar, among others. Accommodations are as follows: Php 4,800 – Beach Pod, Php 8,800 – Poolside Suite, Php 18,800 – Seaview One-bedroom Suite, and Php 24,800 – Presidential Suite. Rates include an overnight stay for two with breakfast and discounted rates in the waterpark (Php 588 for two hours and Php 1,388 for an unlimited pass).
Travel to Guimaras to see its beauty and experience everything the province has to offer. You’ll surely enjoy every minute of it!
